Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Bishop by Steven James (Book Review)

Title: The Bishop (A Patrick Bowers Thriller)
Author: Steven James
Publisher: Revell

My synopsis: Patrick Bowers is a highly skilled FBI agent.  He is usually called to work only the most difficult serial killer cases. While in Washington, DC teaching classes for the National Academy at Quantico, he is called into a sensitive case only because the victim is a congressman's daughter.  It appears to be a perfect crime with no evidence left behind to identify the killers.  Then another body appears and another.  These victims are all related in one way, but Patrick is having a hard time tying them together and locating any strong suspects. 

On a personal level, he is finally getting close to his 17-year-old step daughter Tessa.  She had discovered who her real father was after her mother died only 4 months into the marriage with Patrick.  His name is Paul Lansing and he lived as a recluse in Wyoming.  Only now he is in DC and he has come to try and get custody of Tessa.

Patrick is also caught between two women - one whom he had a relationship with that had recently ended, Lien-hua, who is also an FBI agent; and Cheyenne, a detective with the Denver PD with whom he had also worked but they had never really dated.  She is in Washington, DC, unexpectedly, as a National Academy student.  Both of these women are also drawn into the case that Patrick is working on.  Only nothing is at it seems on this case.  The killers, who call themselves Brad and Astrid, met in an online gaming room.  They are very good at distracting the investigators with leaving evidence pointing in the wrong direction.  It is up to Patrick to be able to actually narrow in and decide what is the true evidence. 

My thoughts:  My synopsis really does not do this book justice.  It was a fantastic thriller.  At a little over 500 pages long it kept me reading late into the night when I most definitely should have been asleep.  I really liked  Patrick's character.  He was a loyal FBI agent, who rarely followed any policies and had his own way of going about solving crimes. He doesn't look for motive or profiling, but using something called geospatial investigation.  It is the idea that timing and location can help to find the suspects, as well as progression of the crimes.  It made for some very interesting theorizing on my part, and is going to make me look at other thriller books that I read in a different light.   The most endearing quality to me though was that he was not macho tough.  He got shot - it hurt - a lot.  He still misses his wife.  He is confused about his feelings for Lien-hua and Cheyenne.  He is trying very hard to be a real dad to Tessa.  It is all these things that round him out so that he isn't just an agent on a case, but that he actually has a life outside the FBI.  Of course, things from his FBI life always have a way of muddying up his private life and family. 

I enjoyed Tessa as well and wish that I was as smart today as she is at 17.  She has a great vocabulary and appears to have an amazing memory when it comes to facts.  She is still just a teenager though so still has that teenage sarcasm and angst.  She is also dealing with memories of almost being killed by a serial killer herself.  (That was in one of the previous Patrick Bowers books). 

Brad and Astrid are terrifying and I find it chilling to even imagine that people like that exist. The extent that they go to to set up their "games" and the way they choose to kill people gives me the heebie-jeebies - (but isn't that why we read thrillers?)   The first murder takes place at a primate research lab, so you learn a lot about the different tests they do in researching neuroscience and cognition.  I found this part especially interesting as I have always been fascinated by chimps and pictured myself working with them using sign language when I was growing up. (Of course, that didn't quite pan out.) 

This has been one of my favorite thrillers so far this year and I am definitely going to have to find some time to go back and read the first three in this series,The Pawn,  The Rook, and  The Knight.  So, if you are looking for your next thriller, I would have to say that it would be a safe bet to pick up one of Steven James' Patrick Bowers books!


~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Baker Publishing in exchange for my review.~

The Bishop
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Aug, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3302-5
520 pages


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

First Wild Card Tour: Premiere by Melody Carlson

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!



You never know when I might play a wild card on you!





Today's Wild Card author is:





and the book:


Zondervan (May 7, 2010)
***Special thanks to Krista Ocier of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:






Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books for teens, women, and children. Before publishing, Melody traveled around the world, volunteered in teen ministry, taught preschool, raised two sons, and worked briefly in interior design and later in international adoption. “I think real-life experiences inspire the best fiction,” she says. Her wide variety of books seem to prove this theory.





Visit the author's website.







Product Details:



List Price: $9.99

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Zondervan (May 7, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0310717868

ISBN-13: 978-0310717867



Press the browse button to view the first chapter:




Tuesday, August 3, 2010

First Wild Card Tour: Final Touch by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card authors are:


and the book:

Zondervan (May 7, 2010)
***Special thanks to Krista Ocier of Zondervan for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:


Brandilyn and Amberly Collins are a mother/daughter team from northern California.

Brandilyn Collins, known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense, is the bestselling author of Violet Dawn, Coral Moon, Crimson Eve, Eyes of Elisha, and other novels.

Visit the Brandilyn's website.

Amberly Collins is a college student in Long Beach, California, majoring in marketing. She’s active in her Alphi Phi sorority and dotes on her Yorkie puppy, Bear.


Here's a video about the first book in the Rayne Series:



Product Details:

List Price: $9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (May 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 031071933X
ISBN-13: 978-0310719335

Press the browse button to view the first chapter:


Monday, August 2, 2010

It's Monday! What are you reading? (Aug 2, 2010)



What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too!

Wow - Can you believe it is August?  School starts here in 2 weeks for my highschooler and 3 weeks for my Kindergartener!  Can't believe it - but looking forward to some extra reading time!  I am hoping to be able to start visiting other bloggers more often too!

Currently Reading:
Lowcountry Summer by Dorothea Benton Frank - I started this one awhile ago and just haven't been able to get back to it.

he Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker - Ditto for this one.
Farm Fatale by Wendy Holden - I think I will be giving up on this one - just isn't my cup of tea.
Final Touch by Brandilyn Collins and Amberly Collins
The Hanging Tree by Bryan Gruley  - This is the second book in the Starvation Lake series with this book coming out tomorrow!  It is not going to be my bathroom book this time though!
Roseflower Creek by Jackie Lee Miles - promising start!

Bathroom Book:
Masked edited by Lou Anders

Audio Book:
The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly - We were supposed to finish this one on a road trip to Wisconsin this weekend - but I had to stay behind because my sister got really sick...



New this week:
I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown (Book Had Been Found! - My mom had picked it up when she was here - it was still in her suitcase!)
Wild Irish Sea by Loucinda McGary - another really late one. . .
The Bishop by Steven James - Check out the Facebook Party at the top of my blog!


Books Reviewed Last Week:
The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells
Starvation Lake: A Mystery by Bryan Gruley
So Over It by Stephanie Morrill
Online with God by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
And One Last Thing. . . by Molly Harper
Sand in My Eyes by Christine Lemmon - I will be having a giveaway for 3 copies of this one possibly starting today!


Waiting to Be Reviewed:
101 Things I Learned in Fashion School by Matthew Frederick and Alfredo Cabrero

Heart of My Heart by Kristin Armstrong
Meet Me in Dreamland: A Lu-Chu and Lena Book by Steven McKinney, Valerie McKinney
Forget You by Jennifer Echols




 
Ready - Set - Read!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Winner Announcements!



Heart of Lies by M.L. Malcolm
#29 - DarcyO
 #31 - hippmom

Barely a Lady
#1 - elaing8
#29 - luvdaylilies
#16 - ChristyJan

A Tidbit Romance
Original winner did not get back to me within the 48 hours so this one is currently up for grabs on Twitter.

The 9th Judgement (audio)
#12 - Chris
#20 - Debs Desk
#15 - Stacybuckeye

Ravished by a Highlander
#19 - Bethie
#10 - winterbabe98
Third winner had already won - so currently up for grabs on Twitter.

Damaged
#25 - Debs Desk
#20 - bridget3420

Fever Dream (audio)
#9 - SandyJay
#3 - Denny, Alaska
#19 - Judy

Innocent (audio)
First winner had already won - so currently up for grabs on Twitter
#24 - Chanelle
#2 - ossmcalc

CONGRATS ALL!  WATCH FOR LOTS OF NEW GIVEAWAYS COMING UP IN AUGUST!

The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells (Book Review)

Title: The Summer of Skinny Dipping
Author: Amanda Howells
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

My synopsis:  The summer Mia was 16, her and her family went to spend the summer in Southhampton with their cousins, Corinne and Bethy.  Being from Georgia, Southhampton might have well been another planet, but Mia and Corinne had always been close friends.  Mia could tell that something was different this time as soon as they arrived.

Mia had come expecting to spend a carefree summer with Corinne, recovering from her recent breakup with Jake.  Instead, she finds herself an outsider to Corinne and Bethy and their current circle of friends.  Drinking seems to be at the top of their list for summer activities, and their parents didn't seem to have a clue.

Mia had always wished that Aunt Kathleen, her mom's sister, had been her mom.  She seemed so put together and to take an interest in her kids.  Combined with her classic good looks and elegant manner, she was the sister who had the world at her feet and had married the love of her life.  Compared to Mia's parents, who lately always seemed to be fighting, it seemed like the charmed life.  Mia overhears her Aunt Kathleen telling Corinne to be nice to her, which makes Mia feel more left out than before.  Until she meets Simon.

Simon was the boy whose family had rented the house next door.  They first meet at one of Corinne's parties, which he had crashed.  A friendship slowly develops and they start to meet on the beach after everyone else was in bed.  Surprisingly to Mia, their friendship turns to romance.  Simon seems to understand her and together they carve out their own little niche that summer.  Much of their time on the beach is spent swimming in the dark.  Simon loves to skinny dip, but Mia is afraid to let go. 

My thoughts: This is a very poignant coming of age story that might have been set in the present or in the past.  Something about Southhampton conjurs up big white houses and large sweeping lawns with women idylly passing their time sitting on the veranda  sipping tea.  Now I realize that elements of this story would not be able to be set in the past, but the feelings that Mia and Simon share for each other and for their parents are timeless. Over the course of the summer, Mia realizes that not everything is as it appears - sort of like "All that glitters, is not gold." And yes, like any good coming of age story, I cried at the end.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for my review.~

Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Fire, June 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3862-8
295 pages















.

Starvation Lake by Brian Gruley (Book Review)

Title: Starvation Lake
Author: Bryan Gruley

My synopsis: Gus Carpenter, reporter for the Detroit Times -- wait, he used to be a reporter in Detroit.  That was before a source for one of his stories - a big story that had garnered a lot of attention -- turned out to be getting his information illegally.  It ended up costing Gus his job, but he still refused to give up the source's name.  So he returned to Starvation Lake, Michigan and the newspaper that had fostered his desire to become a reporter.

Gus had left Starvation Lake vowing to make something of himself.  He was trying to make up for the goal he missed that cost the River Rats, the local hockey team, the State Championship. Instead, he was back in Starvation Lake working on the local paper as editor.  Even though years had passed, memories are long in a small town and people still blamed him for the lost championship. It had seemed to jinx the River Rats, as they had never come that close to the state championship again.  Then when their coach, Jack Blackburn drowned in a snowmobile accident, dreams of the championship died with him.

Only now, Coach Blackburn's snowmobile had washed ashore on Walleye Lake, not Starvation Lake where he had gone down -- and there wasssome evidence that made it look like it wasn't an accident at all. As Gus tries to get to the bottom of it, he is thwarted at every turn.  Even his mother seems to know more than he does.  As everything Gus believed growing up begins to unravel -- the present isn't giving him a strong foundation either.  Battling time trying to resolve the Detroit fiasco, while trying to connect the dots in his past, Gus is going to have to grow up and realize that the heroes from his childhood were tarnished and that the friends he left behind in Starvation Lake grew up long before he did.

My thoughts:  I loved the way this book was written.  Not in the flashy cliff hanger style, but in the comfortable pace of a small town, moving the story along at a natural pace.  As I neared the ending, I started to put the pieces together, but would never have guessed when I began the book that it would take the twists and turns it did.

Mr. Gruley has a second book coming out in this Starvation Lake Mystery series on Aug 3 called The Hanging Tree.  Keep a watch out for my review later this month!

Starvation Lake
Publisher/Publication Date: Touchstone, March 2009
ISBN: 978-1416563624
370 pages

Mailbox Madness (July 26 - Aug 1)

Bison roam the Black Hills of South Dakota

In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren.  Mailbox Monday's host for August is Chick Loves Lit. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!


By Gabe Rotter

The gripping story of the unraveling of one man's seemingly perfect life, and his struggle to get everything back.

A new baby, a loving wife, a solid career, a dream house in Beverly Hills: Dr. Bobby Flopkowski has it all. Until a complicated series of events snowball into a disaster that changes the course of his life forever.

Now, with a tent on the beach as his only home and an addiction that has cut him off from everyone he once loved, Bobby has a revelation that could put him back on track: he believes he has solved the puzzling crime that led to his downfall. But as the reality he's always known slips farther away, will he be able to convince someone -- anyone -- that his suspicions aren't merely the pleas of a desperate man?



by Susan Casey

For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan rogue waves, one hundred feet high or taller.  Until recently, scientists dismissed these stories -- waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics.  But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence emerged, oceanographers realized something scary really is brewing in the planet's waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea -- including several that approached a hundred feet.

As scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge. These are extreme surfers who fly around the world in search of the ocean's most destructive monsters.  The pioneer of extreme surfing is the legendary Laird Hamilton, who, with a group of friends in Hawaii, figured out how to ride terrifyingly large waves of seventy and eighty feet -- and higher.  Casey follows this unique tribe of men as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, the hundred-foot wave.

In this mesmerizing account, the exploits of Hamilton and his fellow surfers are juxtaposed against scientists' urgent efforts to understand the annihilating power of waves -- from the tsunami that wiped out 250,000 people in the Pacific in 2004 to the 1,740 foot wave that recently leveled part of the alaskan coast to the bigger and bolder waves of the future that climate change seems destined to bring.



by Alexandra Lebenthal

It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy.  Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world and has no idea her investment banker husband, Blake, is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind.  Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss.  Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife, Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself.  This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.



by John le Carre

For nearly half a century, John le Carre's limitless imagination has enthralled millions of readers and moviegoers around the globe.  From the cold war to the bitter fruits of colonialism to unrest in the Middle East, he has reinvented the spy novel again and again.  Now, le Carre makes his Viking debut with a stunning tour de force that only a craftsman of his caliber could pen.  As menacing and flawlessly paced as The Little Drummer Girl and as morally complex as The Constant Gardener, Our Kind of Traitor is signature le Carre.

Perry and Gail are idealistic and very much in love when they splurge on a tennis vacation at a posh beach resort in Antigua.  But the charm begins to pull when a big-time Russian money launderer enlists their help to defect.  In exchange for amnesty, Dima is ready to rat out his vory (Russian criminal brotherhood) compatriots and expose corruption throughout the so-called legitimate financial and political worlds.  Soon, the guileless couple find themselves pawns in a deadly endgame whose outcome will be determined by the victor of the British Secret Service's ruthless internecine battles.



by Richard L. Mabry, M.D.

Dr. Anna McIntyre's life was going just fine until someone else started living it.

Her patient dies because of an identity mix-up; her medical career is in jeopardy because of forged prescriptions; and her credit is in ruins.  She thought things couldn't get worse, but that was before she opened the envelope and saw a positive HIV test with her name on it.



Strangers at the Feast
by Jennifer Vanderbes

On Thanksgiving Day 2007, as the country teeters on the brink of a recession, three generations of the Olson family gather.  Eleanor and Gavin worry about their daughter, a single academic and her newly adopted Indian child, and about their son, who ha been caught in the imploding real-estate bubble.  While the Olsons navigate the tensions and secrets that mark their relationships, seventeen-year-old Kijo Jackson and his best friend Spider set out from the nearby housing projects on a mysterious job.  A series of tragic events brings these two worlds ever closer, exposing the dangerously thin line between suburban privilege and urban poverty, and culminating in a crime that will change everyone's life.

In her gripping new book, Jennifer Vanderbes masterfully lays bare the fraught lives of this complex cast of characters and the lengths to which they will go to protect their families. Strangers at the Feast is at once a heartbreaking portrait of a family struggling to find happiness and an exploration of the hidden costs of the American dream.

What goodies did you get last week?

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